Best of Friends
by corkit
Summary: Scorpius finally gets his date with Rose Weasley-Granger, but instead she just wants to have a chat with him. Rated T for adult themes and some language. Slashfic [ACC Sequel]
1. Chapter 1

**AN: It's been a long time since I've written anything, but I was particularly inspired by the Cursed Child and felt like this was a story that needed to be written! Anything you recognise is not mine of course.**

This was it. This was their first date. Scorpius wasn't really sure how or why she'd said yes, but he wasn't really ready to question it either. His hands shook as he reached up to knot his tie.

"Oh God, a tie is too much" he muttered, more to himself than anyone else "she'll think I'm an idiot".

His hands dropped despondently, sinking onto his bed, head in hands.

"I can't do this. I give up!" he groaned between his palms.

"As weird as you going on a date with my cousin is, I have supported you from the beginning and I will continue to do so" Albus sat down on the bed next to him "So, up you get" he nudged Scorpius' shoulder with his own. "Slacks and a clean shirt will do. It's not like she's that fancy."

Scorpius drew his fingers over his temples and down his face "It'll go wrong, it'll go horribly wrong, I'm telling you."

"Well it might" Albus stood and pulled Scorpius to join him, holding his hands as Scorpius looked up at him. "But what we've learnt is that we're good at horribly wrong, so at least you'll be showcasing your talents".

Scorpius glared at Albus, pulling away to stand in front of the mirror. "I can do this. I mean I've read so many books about dating and girls, that's gotta count for something, right?" his voice trailed off.

Albus came up behind him and put his hands on Scorpius' shoulders "Sure, we'll go with that one" he smirked, channelling his older brother "Now tuck in that shirt and go or you'll be late".

xxx

It was painfully awkward. Rose had barely said two words to him and he'd made way too many dorky comments about Hogwarts a History, at which Rose had told him bluntly that he was reminding her of her mother.

She sat across from him, eyes firmly fixed on the butterbeer dregs she was swirling around the bottom of her mug, biting her lip. He thought she looked beautiful. She hadn't dressed up much, if any, but he was a sucker for those brown eyes. They reminded him a bit of Albus, if he was honest. The same depth and warmth.

She hadn't spent a whole lot of time looking at him though, which had been one of the problems with the date. She had actually spent a good portion of it biting her lip and avoiding his eyes. Though he did find the lip biting rather attractive, he would have much preferred a conversation.

Suddenly, she lifted her head, a determined look in her eyes. "I have to tell you something".

Scorpius started, his heart dropping to his knees. It had only been an hour, an hour after years of pining after her and she was going to end it.

"We need to be honest about what's going on here"

He shut his eyes and leaned back "You don't like me."

She winced. "Well, I mean, not in that way"

The embarrassment burned hot in his chest "Why did you say yes then?"

She winced again "Albus may have asked me to?" She looked down into her drink again, tracing the lip with her finger. "But I mean I like you as a friend, and I do want to talk to you." She looked up at him earnestly.

It was his turn to bite his lip, feeling the humiliation flow through his veins. He'd been so excited about it, braver in asking her out than his father had ever thought he would be. Sitting back, he crossed his arms and looked at her. "What did you want to talk about?"

"You, well, and Albus too. But mostly you" she began to ramble. "I mean this isn't the easiest topic to talk about, I mean boys and girls and hormones and things and I mean my parents have talked to me about it, well I guess Mum talked and Dad gave me this book and pretty much slid straight out of the room afterwards but I mean they don't really even think about the other stuff, you know, the stuff when you have feelings for someone you shouldn't have"

"You mean me for you?" he asked her, confused.

"No, no that's not what I mean. I think you think you like me but you don't really"

He was even more confused. "Nope, I definitely like you, I have for years"

"But like do you like me because you want to be naked with me at some stage, or do you like me because I'm pretty and because I remind you of Albus?"

He wasn't sure which part he was more shocked by. That she was talking about sex or that she was saying that he was into her because of her connection to Albus. Either way, he blushed six shades of red and started stuttering. "I… I… d-don't feel very comfortable talking to you about the whole…" he looked around furtively, dropping his voice "naked stuff".

She smirked at him "Oh come on, we're nearly sixteen and you've got all that testosterone going on, and access to the internet, there's no point in being shy."

He sat up, less embarrassed as he got more offended by the tone of the conversation. "This isn't great first date conversation, Rose".

"Man, stop being such a killjoy. Anyway, I think you don't want to sex me up. I think you want to sex _Albus_ up." She sat back, feeling successful for dropping her bombshell.

"What?" Scorpius was in a state between horrified and bemused and began to laugh.

"I've seen the way you look at him" She started to gather her robe. "I've known you for a long time. You've never looked at me with that much love in your eyes, trust me." She stood beside the booth. "I see you need some time to process. I'll see you round the castle. Just think about it"

At her words he finally looked up, smiling absent-mindedly as she headed for the door.

xxx

Albus was antsy. Without the temperate Scorpius to keep him in check for the evening, he'd spent most of the time oscillating between moving around way too much, and brooding. He'd already spent some time trying to concentrate on the potions essay that Scorpius had finished last week, and he'd spent some time playing with his wand, practising the spells that still seemed to come so easily to his classmates. He'd tried to write a letter to his mother, and had already tried to convince one of the first years that Albus hadn't been the one to eat all the chocolate frogs his mother had sent.

He wasn't bothered by Scorpius being on a date with Rose. At least, not really. He was a little worried about the impact of a break-up on his social circle, tiny as it was, but really he was supportive of Rose finally giving him a chance. He'd orchestrated it after all. Though that didn't really go very far to explaining the gnawing feeling in his stomach.

He sat on the bed. Almost ready to admit that the thought of his cousin and best friend dating. He'd known that Scorpius had a thing for Rose from almost day one, and he hadn't exactly been subtle about it. As for Rose, when push came to shove, she'd almost thawed by the end of fifth year, so he'd asked her to give him a chance.

He couldn't help but think of the fact that Rose would have to be included in a lot of things they did, and that Scorpius would want to spend plenty of time alone with her. He and Scorpius had a good long-standing Wizard Chess rivalry and he suspected that Scorpius would be playing it a lot more with Rose from then on, leaving Albus alone like this for many more nights.

He'd have to take up a hobby, like knitting or something. His Nanna Molly would teach him to knit if he asked, he was sure. It didn't take him long to remember that he didn't like knitting, or sitting still, or other solitary activities in general. He had been practically inseparable from Scorpius for more than five years, and that had taken its toll.

Albus hadn't really planned on thinking about his inability to spend time on his own this evening. He'd planned on being very productive, finishing all his homework and spending some relaxing quality time tout-seule. He blamed Scorpius. If Scorpius hadn't had a bullheaded crush on Rose, they'd be having a much better evening. Or was it Rose's fault for saying yes to Scorpius, or Albus' own for being the way they knew each other?

It really was just a frustrating evening.

Just as Albus huffed and threw himself back onto the bed, the dormitory door swung open to reveal a Scorpius who looked like he had a black cloud hovering over him.

Albus all but sprung up, moving towards his friend. "Bad, night?" He surprised himself with how hopeful he felt all of a sudden.

Scorpius glared at him. "Your cousin is the most pig-headed coward I've ever met!"

"I thought she was beautiful, bread-head?"

"I don't want to talk about it" Scorpius sat on the side of Albus' bed, then remembering, stood straight up again and moved to his own, sitting with his back to Albus to pull off his shoes.

"Suit yourself, Scor. But you're gonna have to tell me sometime, otherwise I'll have to ask Rose."

Scorpius could barely keep the horror from his face "I came on too strong and she rejected me once and for all" he lied quickly.

Albus felt safe to let the smile come to his face, but kept the relief out of his voice "That sucks. But I mean you still have Polly Chapman!"

Scorpius threw a pillow in Albus' general direction "Bugger off, I'm going to bed"

"We'll talk about it in the morning!" Albus threw the words at his friends back as Scorpius headed into the bathroom.

That night Scorpius slept poorly, pondering Rose's words and feeling altogether way too close to his friend, whilst Albus slept the sleep of the content.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: A much shorter chapter this time, but this is where I wanted to end this one. Promise the next one will be longer!**

Rose had long suspected that Scorpius had feelings for Albus. She'd watched them grow up as friends, and had seen long touches and loving looks to the point where she had been surprised that their hormones hadn't gotten the better of them. She'd laid that bombshell on Scorpius the previous week and had decided to leave him with it, hoping he'd give in and talk to Albus about it.

Instead, he'd spent the time ignoring her in person, and sending her owls back unopened. He'd also been incredibly awkward around Albus, leaving extra space between them in class and leaving a gap between them when Albus went in for a hug. It had gotten to the point where Albus was visibly moping and Scorpius was looking miserable and aloof. Exactly the opposite of her intentions.

She had to do something so she channeled her mother to write down a five-step plan.

She had thought of orchestrating them catching each other in compromising positions, or some computers "accidentally" left open on some gay porn, but then tossed those ideas away. True love deserved something less crude than that. First she'd trap Scorpius into talking to her, then she'd go from there.

xxx

Scorpius was surprisingly easy to catch. She'd used an owl from the school stock and pretended to be his transfiguration group project member, Polly Chapman, and asked him to meet in one of the quiet study rooms in the library to talk about the final part of the assignment. When he arrived in the library she followed him into the room, locking the door with a simple spell.

"What the hell Rose?" He was understandably pretty irritated. "I'm supposed to be meeting Polly Chapman to talk about an assignment!"

"You're not" she stated, pushing him into one of the chairs "you're meeting me to talk about how you've been treating my cousin."

"What do you mean, treating your cousin?" Scorpius allowed himself to be pushed, but crossed his arms, glaring at Rose. "Hadn't had enough of humiliating me with your rejection the other night and back for more?"

"You're over me aren't you? And no-one witnessed this _humiliation_ so is it really a humiliation at all, or just a step forward in your wonderful, beautiful journey of self-discovery and boy-on-boy action."

He leapt up to cover her mouth with his hand "You're so crude, Rose! Can't you imagine how horrified your parents would be if they heard you talking like that? Let alone your Nanna Molly?"

Rose giggled "I learnt most of it from Uncle George, to be honest. And haven't you ever seen any Muggle TV shows? Being gay is so in these days!"

Scorpius was furious "I'm not… like that" he forced out between gritted teeth.

"Aw man. It's like that is it? You're gonna have to have a moment where you discover your sexuality eventually. It'll probably include glitter and rose petals and a Celine Dion soundtrack" she got gradually more excited as her mind conjured up a grand event "Can I plan your coming out party, please, please, please?"

Scorpius had enough. He pushed past her roughly. "I'm not gay, and leave me alone. I know you don't want me but don't try and make yourself feel better by pretending that my feelings for you weren't real." He flicked his wand to open the door, turning around to sneer at Rose "Next time you should probably take my wand off me before you cast a spell, it kinda defeats the purpose."

Pearls of shame trickled down her back. It seemed like Draco had passed more onto his son than his hair colour, and it was going to be a longer road than she'd assumed. He was obviously really struggling with the idea and she wasn't really sure how to go on.

xxx

"Rose thinks I'm gay" Scorpius announced as he walked into the dormitory he shared with his best friend.

"Huh?" Albus sat up at the sound, pulling headphones from his ears. "What did you say?"

Scorpius lost his nerve "We should go play. Quidditch that is. Or Wizard Chess or Exploding Snap, or something I just want to win something."

Albus sat up and smiled "We can play something, but you won't win" Scorpius had been acting strange since the date with Rose and he had refused to talk about it. It was the first night he'd actually suggested they do something together. He clapped Scorpius on the back and tried to ignore the way that his friend shied away at the touch. Rose really had done a number on him. He'd have to make Scorpius talk.

As they pulled out the Wizard Chess (though Scorpius was reserve on the Quidditch team, Albus himself still wasn't a particularly confident flyer) Albus tried to start a conversation about Rose.

Scorpius didn't take long to shut him down "I told you I didn't want to talk about it. I just want to play chess."

Eyes firmly on his chess pieces, Albus nodded quickly, not wanting Scorpius to see the hurt in his eyes.

Scorpius cast his eyes down too, not wanting Albus to see the turmoil in his, and couldn't bear to see the pain he knew he was causing.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks so much for your lovely reviews and follows, it's really very motivating! I'm travelling and in a foreign city right now so I really should be exploring but instead I wrote another chapter. It's almost a single scene and pretty angsty, internalised homophobia sucks, Draco has a fair bit to answer for there I feel. Hope you enjoy it!**

Albus came to find that it's really hard to ignore someone who shares a room with you. He'd found that while living at home with James, and found that it was the same with Scorpius at Hogwarts. It was, however, easier when Scorpius was doing most of the ignoring. It had gotten into a fairly vicious cycle though, because Scorpius would go hot and cold on him, but Albus wasn't too receptive to the hot after the cold.

He decided that he ought to stop waiting around being miserable while Scorpius was obviously going through something, so he did what every teenager (and almost every adult too) did when their friend had just had their heart broken, he got some alcohol. It honestly hadn't been too hard to convince James to buy him the firewhiskey. James had demanded, among other things, his first born child, but as Albus saw the chances of finding someone willing to reproduce with him as fairly slim, it didn't take him long to sign on the dotted line. He supposed, if push came to shove, that his mother would prevent James calling it in.

Bringing it into the common room and up the stairs unnoticed was not too much of a struggle because most of the members of the house were distracted by some of his uncle's newest products: little brown candies that when swallowed caused temporary levitation capabilities. His ascent to his dormitory was accompanied by the thud of heads against ceiling, an oddly comforting sound, only spoiled by the exclamations of pain that accompanied them. As their room-mates were the source of some of the cries and thuds, it was only he and Scorpius, who was writing an essay for Muggle Studies, in the room.

"Alright Scor, I've got us something" he held the firewhiskey aloft.

"Mmm?" Scorpius mumbled, not looking up from his paper.

"Look, look" Albus insisted.

Scorpius seemed to take forever to finish writing his sentence to look up, irritated "I've gotta get this finished before the weekend, it's due next Friday."

"Dad told me that that's exactly what Aunt Hermione was like when they were at school, and that it was his and Uncle Ron's job to get her out of her shell and make her have some fun" he grinned mischievously. "James got me some firewhiskey! Let's try it. C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, don't be a spoilsport"

The look Scorpius gave him was cold "We're not the Golden Trio. There's no sexual tension there like there was with Hermione and Ron, and neither of us are the boy who lived, so we shouldn't judge ourselves by their standards"

Scorpius couldn't ignore his friend's shoulders shaking as Albus put himself to bed early. He could, however, take the firewhiskey and invisibility cloak as soon as Albus fell asleep, and head for the Room of Requirement.

As he wandered through the empty hallways swigging from the bottle every now and then, he had to step aside for two professors and Mrs Norris who was definitely distracted by his smell.

The Room of Requirement was interestingly arranged, with a comfortable looking bed and a view from high up in the castle. Scorpius sat in a green velvet chair in front of the fireplace and nursed the bottle.

Rose had to be wrong. He wasn't gay, he didn't look down at his body when he undressed and get aroused, he didn't speak with a lisp or have a particular fondness for glitter. He even had a deep, unrequited crush on a girl. Well at least he did until she became particularly unpleasant. He was the Scorpion King for God's sake. To be fair, Albus was the only one who called him that, and it was in jest, but his father had actually been the Sex God of Slytherin for a while, he'd heard the stories. While he'd become more brave since the incidents of fourth year, he was still a virgin and that grated on him. He'd prove Rose wrong by finding a girlfriend.

He hadn't noticed anyone much while he'd been pining over Rose, but one of the seventh years had been smiling at him in the common room, so he thought he'd start there. The Room of Requirement had helpfully provided some quills, parchment and for some reason his owl, so he decided he'd waste no time. So, reflexes slower than usual, he penned a short note to Janet Zabini:

 _"Dear Janet, I think you're hot so let's date, alright? Friday at Hogsmeade, dress sexy – The Scorpion King"_

The great thing about owling rather than texting, Scorpius found, was that it was hard to drunk-owl. It required much more effort, which was why he was very irritated that their head of house, Professor Greenspan, kept their phones locked up during the week.

He folded it and attached it to the owl, realising a little too late that he'd both sent an owl at 3am, and signed the letter as The Scorpion King. In his intoxicated state, it didn't seem to matter all that much.

He almost wrote Albus a letter too, but he knew, even through his drunken haze, that that conversation would need to be in person. And at that realisation he began to cry. God, he'd been such a ridiculous arsehole to his best friend. Rose's accusations had made him so uncomfortable that he had lashed out at Albus, thinking that some distance would be best, if everyone thought they were gay. All it had done, however, was make them both unspeakably lonely.

He hadn't made the best decision in taking the firewhiskey, if he was continuing to be honest with himself, and that wasn't only because of the bile he felt trying to rise up his oesophagus. Albus had brought it as something they could do together. Hell, it might have even been an attempt at comfort over what he saw was heartbreak inflicted by Rose.

Aw man, he was just the worst friend. He'd have to make up for it with some serious grovelling. He stood up. That grovelling would have to wait until the room stopped spinning.

The Room of Requirement had helpfully provided a bucket next to the chair, and tears streamed down his face as he made use of it.

"Fuck, I deserved this" He slurred to the empty room.

xxx

As he awoke in the morning, late for class, he suddenly, and luckily came upon a hangover potion under where he'd tossed the invisibility cloak the other night. He came upon this potion through a mixture of falling over at the dizziness and throwing his body away from the bright light streaming through the uncovered windows, which lead to him knocking the table over, slipping on the invisibility cloak and finally opening his eyes to see a small bottle rolling back and forth in front of his eyes.

Thus fortified, he took stock of the room. It was lucky that cleaning wasn't required in the Room of Requirement, as he'd made a right mess of it. The half-empty bottle of firewhiskey wasn't something that he could ignore though, as he'd have to sneak it back under Albus' bed and somehow hide the fact that it had been partially consumed. He thought it was very lucky that Albus had never tried alcohol, as it would be easy to disguise the problem by filling the rest up with water. He fortunately wouldn't know the difference until he tried real firewhiskey one day, but Scorpius supposed that he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

Making use of the cloak once more, he snuck back to an empty dormitory, all its occupants in class already. Gathering his books and pulling his robe on gingerly (for the potion wasn't one hundred percent effective), he rushed to class as quickly as his brain would let him move.

"Mr Malfoy, so kind of you to join us." Professor Longbottom didn't even look up from the pot he had his hands in "Mr Potter informed me that you were not feeling well this morning, so I'm glad you're feeling better."

His heart soared as he took his seat next to Albus. His friend was still willing to lie for him, which meant all was not lost. Said friend would not look at him as he took his seat though, despite shoulder nudges and a hastily written thank you note. An "I'm trying to listen to the Professor" pushed through gritted teeth was the only response he received.

Scorpius spent the rest of the class with a quiet smile on his face (a muted outward representation of the giant fiesta happening in his chest), barely even concentrating on what Professor Longbottom was talking about.

 **AN: How will Scorpius fix what he's broken? What will happen with Janet Zabini? Does Albus know about the firewhiskey?**

 **I don't really know the answer to any of those questions, but I hope all of us will by the end of the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Man, I don't even know how I'm writing this so fast. This baby is nearly 7,500 words long already and I'm nowhere near done! (Though chapter 5 is nearly finished as well). Hope you're enjoying it. If you are (or even if you're not!) please leave me a review! They make me write faster :)**

Albus didn't even really know why he'd lied. I mean he did, it was because Abby Spielding had made a snarky comment asking where his boyfriend was. It was rubbing him up the wrong way to have people comment on the tension between them. So he lied, and Professor Longbottom didn't question him, because Scorpius wasn't the sort to miss class. The professor treated Scorpius like Albus had been told all the teachers treated Aunt Hermione, like he was the sweetest, smartest thing on earth and could do no wrong.

Oh yes, he was getting bitter, alright. He'd found the invisibility cloak, firewhiskey and Scorpius missing in the morning when he'd woken up, and after a moment of panic, he was just angry. Well and truly at the end of his tether with Scorpius. It wasn't that Scorpius hadn't wanted to try the firewhiskey, it was just that he didn't want to try it with someone who was supposed to be his best friend. He didn't want to look at Scorpius when the traitor entered the classroom, and much to his chagrin when he snuck a look out of the corner of his eye, not only did the bastard not look like he was hungover, but he was also sitting there with a smile on his face.

That smile might have something to do with Janet Zabini. She hadn't tried to keep it quiet at all, and shared it with the whole common room. Scorpius had asked her out, and not only had he done that, but he'd also signed his message as "The Scorpion King".

So it seemed like Rose hadn't been the problem at all. More like Scorpius being sick of having just one friend and trying to rather unsubtly rid himself of the burden of the errant Potter for better company. Well so be it then, two could play at that game. Before the end of class, Albus had made a list of all the girls who were worth dating, crossed off the ones who would never say yes, and had vowed to ask out all three of them before the end of the day. He'd also made a list of all potential new best friends. He'd branched out of Slytherin by then, and had a few decent candidates from Ravenclaw. Olaf Sweedy had been a transfer from Dumstrang and while he was nice enough, he hadn't made many friends yet, so he was Albus' first target.

He'd put in for a room transfer next year, but for now that would have to do.

He was ripped from his concentration by Scorpius jostling his shoulder. "Class is finished, mate. What are you writing there?" He bent down to read it, but before he could, Albus pulled them from the table and stuffed them into his bag.

"None of your business, Scorpion King" Albus stalked out of the room, angry that he'd almost been distracted enough by Scorpius' smile to forget why he was writing the lists in the first place. He was just sick of being jerked around.

Scorpius stood in the empty classroom with a pensive look on his face, obviously he had a lot of work to do.

xxx

Rose also felt like she had a lot to do, and she decided that she needed to talk to her Aunt Ginny. Although it wasn't the sort of conversation that one could have by owl. Thus ensued a plan that involved enslaving a number of willing seventh years that thought they were badass and who really wanted a date with her in order to acquire her mobile phone back for the evening. She sent a text to her Aunt:

 _"Hey Aunt Ginny, don't be worried that I'm messaging you, nothing's wrong, I just wanted to have a girl talk with you about something. Can I call you tonight? Please don't tell Uncle Harry, I'd be really embarrassed."_

The response was almost immediate:

 _"Aren't you too old for the talk? And I would have thought your parents would have given you that one?"_

Rose smirked, she was expecting an assumption of period questions.

 _"It's just something I don't feel comfortable asking my mum, can I call you later?"_

Ginny was a fast texter and the response once again came back quickly:

 _"As long as you're not asking me to buy you sex toys, you can buy those yourself on the internet. Give me a call at 8:30? Don't get caught with your phone on you"_

When 8:30 rolled around, Rose was quick to cast a silencing spell over her bed and pull the curtains across. "Hey Aunt Ginny"

Ginny was curious to hear what her niece had to say "Hey Rosie, what's this girl talk you want? I know some pretty decent birth control charms if that's what you need."

"Oh no, no it's not that. It's about Albus, and Scorpius I guess" she began hesitantly.

"Please don't tell me they've stolen a time-turner again, or are using the invisibility cloak to spy on girls in the bathroom? I really don't have the energy to deal with either of those things again" James had used the invisibility cloak for more nefarious purposes than it had been intended. Thus, it had been given to Albus permanently.

"No, no nothing like that either" She stopped, trying to phrase it right "I think. Well, I'm pretty sure, that Albus and Scorpius are gay. And are like in love with each other."

There was silence on the other end of the phone, until, "You do realise that it's none of your business, right, Rose?"

Rose bit her lip "Yes but I think I've messed it up too."

Ginny took a deep breath "As far as I know, there's nothing to mess up."

"Oh I don't mean that," Rose added quickly "I mean that I think I pushed Scorpius about it and now he's made their friendship worse and now they're both miserable! I mean James told me that he…" she stopped abruptly.

"James told you what?" Ginny was worried then.

"Nothing, nothing it doesn't matter but they're both upset and on the outs and I think it's my fault and I just want to fix it and have them live happily ever after and I need your help."

Ginny was stern then "I'll be having a conversation now with James to find out what you're not willing to tell me. In addition to that, I would just like to say, young lady, that you're not responsible for all the wrongs in the world, nor the good, so perhaps you should take a step back there"

Rose tried to interject "But I…"

Ginny continued "I really think that their relationship is none of your business, just like it is none of mine and none of Harry's. Unless my son's future partner is planning on destroying the world again, I don't think there's a whole lot of reason to interfere in his love life. As for them being on the outs, thanks for telling me that. I suspected something of the sort from Albus' owls. But," she finished "please do stay out of their business, Rose. If they're sixteen-year-old boys figuring out their sexuality, they've got to do it on their own."

Suitably humiliated for the second time in a week, Rose could only stutter apologies before hanging up the phone.

xxx

Ginny had been a little unsettled by the phone call and laid awake that night while Harry softly snored beside her. She spent most of her worrying time on her second son, and this time was no exception. It wasn't that she was bothered by the idea of her son being gay as such, she was just no stranger to being poorly treated by her peers for being different. He already stood out like a sore thumb, carrying the weight of three famous names, and his relationship with Scorpius had been one saving grace in that ever since he'd started at Hogwarts. She worried about the possibility of Rose being right. If they were destined to end up being each other's first love, then how would they cope when it almost inevitably fell apart?

She and Harry were lucky, she knew that. As were Ron and Hermione. Draco hadn't been as lucky with Astoria's sickness, but he had married and remained committed to his first love. Most people weren't as lucky. With divorces ending almost half of marriages in the Muggle world, and more than a third in the Wizarding world, it would be incredibly unlikely that they would stay together forever. Then what would become of her baby?

She remembered the first time she'd held him, dark eyes staring up at her. She made the promise that every mother makes in that moment, to protect their child from the worst of the world. She'd been unable to protect him from Delphi and it had cost them all dearly. She also knew that it was party parental intervention that had been one of the reasons it had all gone so wrong.

She saw in that moment, that she could not protect him from whatever harm might befall his heart, but she could make the transition that much easier, if Rose were to be right. She sat up in bed and set aside the covers. Putting her slippers on, she padded over to their old writing desk.

 **AN: Who is Ginny owling? Have a guess and we'll see whether you're right in... chapter six I think!**


	5. Chapter 5a

**AN: So I'm roaring through this story, but this chapter ended up being waaaaaaaay too long, so I split it into two. This is part 5a, and part 5b will be up soon. I'm really enjoying writing this, and I hope you're enjoying reading it! Please review and let me know what you think. Thanks so much to R. 2015 for reviewing. I also feel your frustration. When two people are meant to be, it's really hard to see them apart and so angsty!**

Scorpius was still working on the plan when Janet approached him in the common room. She bit her chocolate coloured lip and balanced on one long leg as she drawled "So where're you taking me Friday night?"

Scorpius took a little while to remember his actions from the previous night and when he did, a smirk came to his mouth, an expression very reminiscent of his father. "Hey gorgeous, I didn't ask you to wear something nice today, I said on Friday night!"

An answering smirk came to hers "Oh you ain't seen nothing yet" she turned to her best advantage, feeling Scorpius' eyes rest on her derriere, as she'd intended.

He smiled to himself as she walked away. He'd picked well, she was attractive, sexy in all the conventional ways, and way out of his league. He wasn't entirely sure what she saw in him but it was completely beside of the point if he wanted to become a Slytherin Sex God. There wasn't much point in looking for something particularly permanent, he'd probably inherit what his mother had and die pretty young anyway.

The only permanent thing he really needed was his friendship with Albus, which was the real thing in need of repair at the moment. He thought he ought to start with chocolate. Chocolate was something that Albus particularly liked. He'd duck out and get some from Hogsmeade so he could leave them on Albus' bed. He'd come up with an extra couple of phases before bed, but he'd have to do some research on women tonight. If he was going to perform on Friday night, he was going to need to be prepared.

xxx

Albus was also preparing some wooing of his own, and had already sat next to Olaf in Divination (one of the few subjects he didn't share with Scorpius) and started to lay the foundations for their friendship. Olaf also wasn't a big fan of flying, but he was apparently a hell of a jokester and hadn't been to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes yet, so Albus would take him along for a family discount on their next Hogsmeade weekend.

He had also sworn to end up with a date by the end of the week and he'd struck out the first time with Angela Rhineberg who'd told him in no uncertain terms that she was not interested, but Briony Colefax, a pretty Ravenclaw fifth year had said yes to a butterbeer in Hogsmeade. By all accounts, he had a date the same night as Scorpius. Something that made him feel better about the whole thing. This time he wouldn't spend the night at home lonely, this time he'd go on a date, a date with someone who wasn't the secret child of Voldemort.

He was spending more time than he was entirely comfortable with thinking about Delphi when he was interrupted by his cousin pulling a chair up next to him in the library with a "Hey cuz".

"Hey, hey Blue" he nodded. Partly glad for the interruption and partly still stuck in his reverie.

"What's up?" She broached the topic of his mood casually.

"Not much. I've got a date on Friday though." She sat back a little in surprise.

"Oh yes? Who with? A death eater? A boggart?" She teased.

"Har, har, har very funny. No, it's a student this time. It's Briony Colefax." He crossed his arms, waiting for her reaction.

She was suitably impressed. "Wow, nice one. She's pretty." He smiled "Are you sure she's your type though? She's younger then you instead of ten years older!"

She put her legs to the sides of the chair to counterbalance, but his push sent her sprawling ungracefully on the floor. Madame Pince shushed them from behind a shelf and Albus sat back and smirked while Rose untangled herself from the chair and placed herself daintily back on it. "That's no way to treat a lady!"

"Good thing you're not a lady then!" He smiled sweetly at her.

"Anyway, what's Scorpius going to do when you're out on a date then? You guys usually spend the evenings together."

His smile slowly turned to a frown. "Oh come on, are you going to try and tell me you haven't noticed that we've been drifting apart. I thought you Gryffindors were all honest and loyal and shit like that. He's got a date that night too. Janet Zabini."

She noted the pain he attempted to hide with sarcasm and snark and resisted making a comment about Scorpius being the one to date older women. "Well that's nice for him, right?"

He smiled but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Sure. Aren't you the one supposed to be heartbroken that he's moving on so quickly though? Or was the date that bad?"

She hesitated. "It wasn't bad so much as I gave it a try and it just wasn't for me…" She grimaced. "He's a nice guy, Al, but I think he's into the idea of me more than he's actually into me."

He shrugged. "Well I guess it's not my business, you didn't work out, he's moving on, you're… you"

"I don't need a significant other, I'm significant enough on my own." She grinned widely.

He returned the smile, the first genuinely happy one he'd had in almost two weeks "That you are, Blue."

Rose got up to leave, "Give my love to your folks when you write home next, yeah."

He nodded. "Sure thing."

Rose almost itched with the urge to go up to Scorpius and shake some sense into him. It did follow a bit though, upon reflection, she thought. If he was trying to prove himself straight he'd try and get straight up on the horse. She wasn't sure how he'd managed to gather up the courage though, he'd taken about four years to ask her out the first time. She remembered her conversation with the mother of the boy in front of her and reined herself in. She'd have to just give it some time. She suddenly remembered the secret she'd almost let out of the bag and made a sudden request "Oi, you'd better give me some of that firewhiskey by the way, my silence doesn't come free!"

He scowled at her as she walked away grinning and wiggling her fingers in his direction.

xxx

It was unusual that girls would give boys chocolate, but it seemed like Briony was into that sort of thing, Albus thought to himself as he made a significant dent in the box of chocolate frogs that he'd found on his bed on Thursday night. It had taken him a little time to figure out the source. He'd originally thought it was Olaf and that it had been a German thing, but after a little communication issue, he'd realised that it must have been Briony instead.

He was thinking about her as he put a shirt on for their date. Scorpius had yet to appear to get ready for his date, and Albus had the room to himself. So if he was honest he was thinking about both of them. He hadn't seen much of Scorpius in the past few days except to exchange pleasantries, something he felt really uncomfortable doing, but saw as a necessary evil until he was able to change rooms.

He decided that he'd need to do some serious snogging with Briony that night in order to keep his mind off his friendship troubles. His friendship with Olaf was going along nicely, besides the slight hiccup where Olaf thought that Albus was going to buy him a box of chocolates and had been quite disappointed when Albus disabused him of the notion. That had been easily fixed with making sure he brought a few chocolate frogs along to the next Divination class and the conversation had been less forced of late. He had a lot to be proud of, a date with a pretty girl and a new friendship. That had almost become his mantra for the previous three days.

He met Briony at the bar with two mugs of butterbeer (his mother was careful not to spoil him, but they gave him a decent allowance) and they sat across from each other in a booth. Coincidentally the same booth in which Rose had sat across from Scorpius, but neither of them were to know that. Conversation flowed easily and they had soon settled into a rhythm, he secretly glad that many conversations with Scorpius about books had prepared him to keep up with a Ravenclaw.

 **AN: Alright I have no sense of timing or patience at all, I'll upload part 5b straight away...**


	6. Chapter 5b

**AN: This is a super intense single scene chapter. I am a bisexual woman, so not everything may be right, but I've attempted to do my research as best as I can. Please please please message me if I've said anything wrong though, that is the very last thing I want to do with this story! Other than that, please love me and review!**

Scorpius had an entirely different evening. He spent the first half in the Forbidden Forest taking shots with Janet, and the second half on his bed. When Draco had first given him the box of condoms for his sixteenth birthday he had been embarrassed, but he was glad for them as it seemed like things were heating up between he and Janet.

She had turned up in a short skirt and a low cut top, breasts pushed up to create an image that could have been placed next to a dictionary definition of cleavage. While he was almost mesmerised by the dark mounds of flesh, he still managed to come to the conclusion that he was an ass man rather than a tits man. He much preferred to have his hands grasping her tight derriere as she ground against him.

Suddenly she sat up "Fuck!"

He panicked, scrambling up to sit next to her "What did I do? Did I hurt you? Oh God I'm so sorry Janet, I'm…"

She interrupted him "No no, it's not you." She put her face in her hands. "Ugh" she groaned.

He wasn't sure what to do. He was completely shirtless and had his belt unbuckled and she was in a similar state of undress. He re-buckled his pants and cast his shirt over her shoulders. "I'm sorry?" he asked hesitantly.

"No, I'm sorry" She took a deep breath and took her head out of her hands. "I got you all worked up and now I want to stop and I know that feminism tells me that I'm not responsible for anyone else's pleasure but I got you all worked up and I want to stop and I half expect you to call me a bitch and I just thought it would work…" She started to sob.

Worry crinkling his forehead, he pulled her to him. "Hey, hey, hey don't cry"

She looked up at him, sobbing afresh as she noticed the concern on his face. Scorpius wasn't quite sure how to deal with this. He could deal with flirting and sexual comments, they'd been trading them all night, but he wasn't quite sure how to deal with a sobbing woman. In fact, the last sobbing woman he'd held had been his mother. Thinking about his dead mother was a mood-killer if anything, and he pushed her from his thoughts. She wasn't the woman he needed to be thinking about right now. "You're not a bitch. Sh, sh, sh" He rocked her back and forth a little hoping it would help.

A noise between a laugh and a sob escaped her mouth. "The rocking is just weird." He stopped immediately, apologising again. "It's okay, I mean I know you're trying to help." She gave him a watery smile. "It's just…" she sighed "I thought it was something else. I mean I thought that if I felt more comfortable and like I had more power that it would just come, that I'd enjoy it and that I wouldn't be such a failure."

He stayed silent, more confused than anything at this point.

"You see, I read this article, I read it on this website and it talked about this thing called asexuality and it sounded like me, except I don't want to be asexual, I want to be a sexual being and have sex and have sexual experiences and I just want to enjoy them and stop feeling like a fucking failure!" She almost shouted, frustration oozing from her pores.

He wasn't any less confused but he knew that there was something he could say "You're not a failure."

She looked up at him again. "But I feel like one, and that's almost the same thing." She sighed. I'm sorry but this" she gestured between "them isn't going to happen." She moved to put her clothes on.

"You know, we could just talk instead? We'll both get dressed and sit here and talk. The silencing charm is still working so we wouldn't be interrupted…" He trailed off as she picked up her clothes and laughed at them.

"They're barely worth putting on. I was kinda trying for the 'dress for the job you want' vibe, and I ended up going a little too far."

He tossed her a clean t-shirt from his trunk. "Will this work?"

She shrugged it over herself, huddling into it. "I may not be sexually attracted to you, but I've definitely got a crush on you, I like wearing this shirt."

He tried to have a go at understanding what she was talking about "So you're gay? And you wish you weren't?"

She laughed mirthlessly "If only it were that simple…" She stretched out her long legs, propping herself up against the bedhead and encouraging him to do the same next to her. "I'm attracted to people, just not sexually. Asexuality it's called." He nodded, still confused. "I'm still learning about it so don't ask me any questions that are too hard, but from my experience, I am a sexual being, I mean I masturbate like crazy, and I have all these crushes and relationships and technically all this sex. I mean I have had sex with women and men and people who identify as in between, and theoretically I enjoy it, but in the practical sense I just don't."

He nodded again, embarrassment joining confusion in his suite of emotions.

She pulled her legs to her chest "I thought it was just a power thing, that the spark went out because I felt insecure or something, but it didn't really work with you so I guess that theory's wrong."

He felt a glimmer of frustration "So I was an experiment? Because you found me unintimidating?"

She glowered at him "Wasn't I an experiment for you? You're trying to convince yourself you're not gay, right?"

He started, suddenly angry. "I'm not gay! Have you been talking to Rose?"

She put a hand to his arm. "You're not going to find what you want. That's what I tried to do and it wasn't in the slightest bit successful." She took her hand off his arm and put it around herself protectively. "I'm not sure what happened between you and Albus, but you just look at him in a way that you never looked at me tonight, even when we were practically about to have sex. That's not friendship, that burning that you feel when you're apart."

He put a protective arm around himself. "I thought about my mother today when you started to cry. My dead mother. I don't think of her much."

She took a moment to collect her thoughts before she challenged him. "I think you're using that story to deflect from what's going on here. You know that she would be fine with you being gay."

His hands curled into fists. "You don't know anything about my mother" he growled through gritted teeth.

"Yes I do" she said matter-of-factly. "Did you know my Dad is gay?" She suddenly revealed. "Turns out my family is a kind of Pokemon collection of all the non-conforming sexuality identities. Gotta catch them all." She laughed bitterly. "Your Mum was the first person he came out to in high school. He knew he was gay when he married my mother and had me, but he wasn't happy. Your mother wrote him letters almost up until the end, encouraging him to make us all happier by finding happiness himself, and then congratulating him and reassuring him when he did."

"Why didn't my Dad tell me?" He finally asked.

She shrugged. "They just drifted after your mother died. I mean it was mostly a writing relationship, and I lived with my mother for a lot of the time… just lots of reasons."

"So he knew your Dad was gay?" He asked almost hopefully.

"He inadvertently introduced Dad and Rick, his long term partner." She smiled at him. "I'm not sure that he ever entirely approved, but that's no reason why you should be afraid of coming out to him."

Scorpius put his hands up. "Woah, woah, woah. You're proceeding under the assumption that I'm gay."

She turned to him. "Well aren't you?"

He refused to answer the question with anything other than a shake of the head, and as the clock struck eleven, just before Albus returned to the room, she snuck back into the common room and into her own dormitory.

 **AN: Damn, I am just so in love with Rose and Janet. I vaguely considered writing them as a couple, but I think I have some other better couples in mind. Also, I really love the idea of Blaise Zabini being gay, and Astoria being really okay with it and supportive. I don't think Draco would be entirely supportive though. I guess we'll have to see how he comes into the story!**


	7. Chapter 6

**AN: Eek I'm so sorry that this has taken so long! I've been in a new country and had a wedding to go to and more travelling with a different friend and then I got sick and I've just been too crazy busy for this. I'll hopefully have another chapter or two finished tomorrow as well for you. Thanks so much for your lovely reviews and follows, they all make me feel so very special.**

"So what if I'm gay?" Scorpius almost shouted at Rose. He'd used her trick against her and had cornered her in a study room in the library before casting a silencing charm.

She was startled, but her shock turned into amusement. "So I guess it didn't work out with Janet then? Shame, she's a nice pureblood girl, your father would approve."

"Stop it!" He seemed to have spent most of the last twenty-four hours being frustrated with women. "So what if I am? What do I do about it? So what if I'm fucking in love with your fucking cousin who didn't even fucking acknowledge the fucking chocolates I fucking left on his bed?"

Rose held up her hands, a bemused smile on her face. "Man you really need to relax. Too much fucking going on in that sentence, save that for Al." She screwed up her face. "On second thoughts, don't. Or at least if you do just _please_ don't tell me about it. That's my cousin for Christ's sake!"

He stopped himself from banging his hands on the table, but only just, deliberately bringing them down to rest them on the edge. "Please Rose, I'm being serious. I think I'm in love with Albus and I'm going crazy with us being on the outs and I know it's my fault because I got all weird about the possibility of being gay and now I think I'm gay and he didn't even say anything about the chocolates, I got him chocolate frogs, you _know_ how he loves chocolate frogs." He stopped for breath, his voice almost cracking, a lump sitting heavily on his chest.

"He thought they were from Briony." She said glumly. He looked confused rather than despondent. "Briony's the fifth year Ravenclaw he went out on a date with last night. By all accounts they both had a good time. You knew that was happening, didn't you?"

Despondence finally rushed over him. "No… I mean…"

She pulled him down into a chair. "You know he only decided to go on one after hearing you were going out with Janet, so at least there's that."

He rubbed his hands on his pants nervously. "So it went well did it?"

She winced in sympathy. "Yeah, I heard it did. They're going out again next Hogsmeade weekend."

"Oh God, what do I do?" He brought his hands to his face. "I'm in fucking love with my best friend. And he's just got his first girlfriend."

xxxx

The object of his affection was, at that point in time, pondering whether to send Briony some chocolates. He'd had a great time last night. They hadn't shared a kiss, but they'd shared intellectual theories and a love of books. Or at least he shared Scorpius' love of books with Briony. He wasn't entirely sure how he himself felt about books. He was sure he liked them, but loving them was definitely his best friend's territory.

Having experienced a lovely date, and coming back to find Scorpius alone and asleep seemed to suggest that the latter had not had such a great time, he was in a fantastic and almost magnanimous mood. Unusually receptive to any sort of advances in the form of friendship, he decided against closing the curtains around his bed for the first time in a month and lay back to think.

He'd decided in the affirmative about the flowers and made plans to acquire them. As they already had another date planned, he didn't need to worry about when to message her. Drafting an owl to her in his head, he made a mental note to ask Scorpius for some literary references to woo her with. It would be easier if they had classes together, then he could pass notes and… he was sure that was a literary reference of some sort. He'd ask Scorpius in the morning.

xxxx

Albus awoke to the side of his bed dipping. "So you liked the chocolate frogs?"

Bleary eyed, he looked into Scorpius' smile "Yeah" he croaked before clearing his throat "it was really nice of Briony to send them. If a little unconventional."

Scorpius' winced, remembering Rose's revelation. "They were actually from me…"

"Oh!" Albus sat up suddenly. "Shit man, I'm sorry"

Scorpius bit his lip. "No Albus, I'm sorry. That's what I was trying to say with the frogs. I've been a real arse lately and I've made us both miserable."

It didn't take long for Albus to throw the covers off and envelop his friend in a big hug.

Time stood still for Scorpius. Suddenly burdened once again by his realisation, he felt his heart thud in his chest as his eyes fluttered shut and he lost himself in the hug. He would have been less uncomfortable if Albus hadn't decided to sleep shirtless, but as they disentangled he took the opportunity to appraise his best friend's physique.

He'd seen plenty of porn. What teenage wizard hadn't? He'd wiggled his wand to his fair share of wizarding and muggle porn and in retrospect could see a bit of a pattern in his taste in wizards. He hadn't been into some of the incredibly muscular men in the stuff the others had been liberal in sharing. He'd been more comfortable with the smaller men, with sinewy arms and green eyes.

He cringed internally, feeling like a creep. There were signs in the categories he searched for in the privacy of his bed as well. The combination of Albus' state of undress and his thoughts made him quick to shuffle over to his own bed in discomfort.

"I'm sorry I've been weird and I'm sorry I haven't been friendly lately and I've just been a shit friend" he began to ramble. "You just mean so much to me and I've missed you and can we please forget that these past couple of weeks never happened?"

"You mean two weeks, one day, three hours and six minutes you mean?" Albus was only half joking.

Scorpius winced "Please."

"Only if you tell me what was going on! I mean you pretty much turned on me after you went on a date with Rose. Is it because she's my cousin?" After the elation at the reconciliation, the full brunt of the rejection hit him anew and he brought his thighs to his chest, wrapping his arms around them as if for protection.

Scorpius practically froze. He hadn't been prepared to answer that question. He was tempted to tell the truth, that he had been struggling with his sexuality, but he wasn't quite ready for that conversation. "Yeah I guess" he decided to go with the easy lie. "She rejected me resoundingly and I had just been so into her for so long and you just reminded me of her." He was surprised at how natural the lie sounded coming from his mouth.

Albus didn't feel particularly reassured, but he didn't want to risk losing his friend again so he decided to leave it for the time being. "But our friendship is more important, isn't it?" He was irritated at how insecure he sounded.

Scorpius was kind and reassuring though, not missing the note of sadness in his friend's voice. "For sure, little Potter" he teased. He readied for another hug, or at least to put his arm around his friend, but he stopped himself.

Did he want to hug Albus because that's what they did as friends, or did he just want to touch him? He couldn't deny that he loved the feel of his friend's bare back, but he didn't know how to make it not weird.

His decision was made for him when Albus didn't move towards him. Scorpius guessed that he hadn't expected a hug.

As Albus headed towards the bathroom to freshen up, Scorpius once again took stock of his situation.

There were four things he was sure of:

1\. He was definitely sexually attracted to men (whether it was exclusive or not, he hadn't yet determined)

2\. He had a crush on his best friend

3\. He couldn't lose his best friend

4\. His best friend wasn't attracted to him

There were another four things of which he was still trying to determine the veracity:

1\. It wasn't just a crush, it was love

2\. His best friend was now dating a girl

3\. It was now going to be super weird around Albus

4\. He would probably die alone of unrequited love

He flopped back onto his bed. He guessed that he'd have to spend some serious time on the internet reading up about being gay and in love with your straight best friend. There'd have to be plenty of advice there.

 **AN: So wizard porn definitely has to be a thing. Not really sure what it would look like, but it's definitely a thing. And Scorpius is gay! He's really gay! But is Albus gay? And will they fall in love and live happily ever after?**


	8. Chapter 7

**AN: Yay! I finished another chapter! I have no idea about the quality because I've literally had like 2 hours of sleep in the past 24 hours and holy crap Frontier Airlines in the US is the absolute worst so I would suggest never ever flying with them EVER. It's possible that this story is turning into complete crap because I'm writing it so sleep deprived, but I hope it isn't! The characters are being awfully frustrating at the moment...**

The internet hadn't been particularly helpful. Most of the posts about making your best male friend fall in love with you were directed towards girls, and the ones about unrequited love were downright depressing. Someone had informed someone else in his situation that he needed time, distance and space to get over his best friend. The advice was entirely useless for Scorpius, considering that he had no intention of getting time or space away from his friend. They'd also suggested that he admit to his best friend that he was gay, but Scorpius was sure has hell not going to do that. Their friendship had gone through so much and was so damn valuable.

It really was a shitty situation. He was a weedy little motherless gay boy, son of a death eater, cousin of Voldemort's only child and hopelessly in love with his best friend, who had a girlfriend. In his newfound friend duties, he'd found himself helping Albus to draft cute messages to Briony. It felt a little disingenuous to be doing so, and he often caught himself making lovesick little sighs, wishing that Albus would be writing this stuff to him.

Lovesick little sighs? Really? A Malfoy?

It had only been two days since he'd come to terms with his own sexuality and somehow he'd turned into a ridiculous little puppy. He'd also done a bit of research into gay sex as well and was still wrapping his head around the idea.

Rose had sent him a short owl the previous day, asking him when she'd receive her invite to his coming out party. She'd charmed the envelope to explode in a puff of glitter in his face, and while he found it rather insensitive of her, at least she was practicing her skills. For the daughter of Hermione Granger, she really didn't like spending time studying, and was chief tester for her family's new products.

Despite a thorough cleaning spell, he was still finding glitter in unusual places, and had sworn to get her back. He also had to work out a way to explain his burgeoning friendship with Rose to Albus. He'd gotten himself into a pickle blaming her for his cold behaviour, but thought he just ought to tell the truth: that he was over her, but she'd practically forced him into a friendship.

Meanwhile, Albus was finding his feet in this relationship he'd started with Briony. He was enjoying the cute owls they were sending each other, and he'd hit up Professor Longbottom for some charmed roses to give to her. She seemed to be really enjoying it too, and had even suggested that he join her and her friends at the Ravenclaw table for lunch one day. He'd teed it up with Olaf as well, so he'd sat between his new girlfriend and his new friend. Scorpius hadn't seemed to mind, and had actually spent some time sitting with Janet, despite the fact that he'd been adamant that their date hadn't worked out.

He almost felt bad for having a girlfriend, when Scorpius had struck out with both Rose and Janet in such quick succession, but he liked the looks he got from his fellow students when he walked around the castle hand in hand with Briony. He'd never been popular and he accepted that he never would be, but some of the girls who had never smiled at him, decided that he was worth smiling at, and a few of the boys looked at him with what felt like awe.

He was, however, quite shocked to come up to their dorm room early one evening to find Scorpius sitting on his bed with both Rose and Janet. His cousin leapt up to give him a hug straight away and Janet gave him a relaxed smile and a wave. Scorpius looked almost panicked, and awkwardly motioned him over to join them.

"Long time no see, cuz" Rose said to him as they both settled onto the bed.

"I thought you were hanging out with Briony…" Scorpius was acting like he was caught doing something inappropriate and looked almost apologetically in Albus' direction.

"She had to finish a paper for muggle studies tonight" Albus said by way of explanation.

"Oh I've got one of those too!" Rose said almost gleefully. "It's technically not due until Friday though, so I'm in the clear"

"It's Wednesday" Scorpius said, worry taking over his face. "Really, Rose, you should be more responsible with your classwork. Your mum would be so disappointed."

Rose wasn't at all perturbed. "But she won't find out. I'll just do it tomorrow night and it will be fine."

Janet rolled her eyes "I hate you guys who can just pick up your assignments and do them the night before, where some of us suckers have to work hard to get top marks."

Rose stuck out her tongue at the other girl.

Albus swore to ask Scorpius for an explanation when the girls were gone, but resolved to enjoy the moment while they had it. "So what brings a lion into the snake's den?"

Rose looked mischievously at Scorpius "We were just planning a party"

If looks could kill, Rose would have been dead by then "I hate you, you know that, right?" He turned to Albus "She's just messing with me. We're just hanging out. You're branching out with _friends_ " he smirked and nudged Albus with his elbow. "So I've been hanging out with these lovely ladies."

To Albus it looked a hell of a lot like Scorpius was flirting with two girls who had turned him down in the past month. He suddenly felt very out of place. "Sorry to break up the party guys, but I've got to turn in. Feel free to hang out here though, I'll just pull down my curtains." It wasn't jealousy in the pit of his stomach, it was fear. He thought that he and Scorpius were back to being friends, but it didn't really feel like Scorpius was sharing anything with him.

He decided to demand an explanation in the morning, and then invest some more time in the friendships that he was starting to build with the Ravenclaw folk.

 **AN: So we thought they'd all reconciled and stuff and then, nooooooo, Scorpius is telling lies and putting up stupid barriers and it's shutting out Albus. You know what I wish? That everyone had a coming out party. That everyone came out as whatever sexuality they were and there was glitter and rainbows and awesomeness (even if you were straight) and so people weren't weird about it. It's probably just the sleep deprivation talking. That might be why so much of these past two chapters have taken place on and around beds...**


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